Episodios

  • 👂Secrets of the Ear and the Discipline of Pitch | iServalan | Continuum Approach

    👂Secrets of the Ear and the Discipline of Pitch | iServalan | Continuum Approach
    Dec 18 2025
    Tuning: Engineering, Listening, and the Discipline of Pitch Before we talk about repertoire,before we talk about speed, technique, or expression, we attend to pitch. Because a string instrument resinates when it is in tune with itself and with the world around it.An instrument in tune encourages pride in performance and confidence for future success. Strings Are Engineered Objects Every string is designed for a specific instrument, a specific vibrating length, and a specific tension range.This is not tradition or branding—it is physics and engineering. A violin string is not simply a “thin string.”A cello string is not simply a “thick one.” Each is calculated according to:scale lengthcore materialwinding materialexpected pitchand the structural limits of the instrument itselfUsing strings intended for another instrument disrupts this balance.The result may be instability, poor tone, unreliable tuning, damage to the instrument—or sudden breakage. For this reason, strings should never be swapped between instruments, even within the same family. The Rule of Half a Tone A fundamental safety rule applies across all modern string instruments: Strings should never be tightened more than a semitone (half a tone) above their intended pitch. Beyond this point, breakage becomes increasingly likely—not because the string is faulty, but because it has exceeded its engineered tolerance. Good strings are very expensive and breakage can be devastating. There are rare, specialist exceptions—some historical instruments, viols, or modified setups may use alternative tunings or specially designed strings—but these are intentional, informed choices using appropriate materials. They are not experimental adjustments. For standard learning and practice: Half a tone is the recomended limit. External References: Useful, Not Absolute Tuning may be guided by:a well-tuned acoustic pianoan electric keyboarda digital tuner or tuning appThese tools are helpful starting points, particularly for beginners or home practice.However, they should be understood as approximations, not final authorities. Digital tuners measure frequency.Music, however, lives in relationship. Two strings may be “in tune” with a device and still be out of tune with each other. The Instrument Tunes Itself The most reliable tuning comes from the instrument’s natural harmonics and internal relationships. When strings are tuned to each other, the instrument settles.Resonance strengthens.The sound opens. You may notice a complimentary song like ringing as opposed to off tuning which creates an audible beating conflict, a disharmony. This method develops not only better tuning, but better listening. (These harmonic relationships will be explored in detail in later Bricks, specific to each instrument.) Ensemble and Orchestral Pitch When playing with others, strings do not choose their own centre. In orchestral and ensemble settings, instruments tune to orchestral pitch—commonly A = 440 Hz, though this may vary depending on context, repertoire, or ensemble tradition. The goal is not personal preference.It is collective alignment. Good intonation is a social skill. Intonation Begins Early Intonation is not an advanced topic.It is a foundational one. The ear must be trained from the very beginning to recognise:stabilitytensionadjustmentand resolutionWaiting “until later” to address intonation only makes the process longer and more frustrating. Drones: The Silent Teacher One of the most effective tools for developing intonation is the drone. A sustained reference pitch:anchors the earreveals small inaccuraciesbuilds internal pitch memoryDrones should be used regularly, wherever appropriate:with scaleswith exerciseswith repertoireeven with simple open-string workThey teach the ear to stay home. Listening Is the First Rule Above all else: Listening comes first. Before fingers.Before bow.Before speed. Listening is not limited to practice sessions. Music should surround daily life:songsscalesexercisespop musicworld musicorchestral soundsolo instrumentsIn the car.While doing housework.As background and as focus. This constant exposure creates what might be called aural tuning—the quiet, ongoing alignment of the ear. An instrument tuned once will drift.An ear tuned daily will not.iServalan™Music, listening, and the Continuum Approach: Exploring sound across genres, eras, and performance cultures — from Baroque to punk, hip-hop to minimalism — without hierarchy or haste.🎧 Podcast & essays: 🎻 Music Schoolhttps://iservalan.gumroad.com/l/concervatoire?https://iservalan.gumroad.com📚 Books & long-form work by Sarnia de la Maré FRSA:https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B0CWGX2DJ6🎨 Professional profile:https://www.a-n.co.uk/person/sarnia-de-la-mare-frsa-2/#iServalan #ContinuumApproach #MusicPodcast #RadicalListening #MusicAcrossGenres#PerformanceCulture #SarniaDeLaMaré
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    6 m
  • 🎻 The Viola: Naming the Structure Understanding the Space | iServalan | Continuum Approach

    🎻 The Viola: Naming the Structure Understanding the Space | iServalan | Continuum Approach
    Dec 18 2025
    This essay accompanies an audio episode from iServalan and forms part of a wider approach to learning music through listening, movement, and attention.🎻 The Viola: Naming the Structure, Standing in the Middle VoiceBefore we talk about comparison,before we talk about being “overlooked,”before we talk about whether the viola is harder or easier — we meet it properly. Because the viola is not a compromise.It is a place. And to stand in that place,we need shared language. Not memorised.Not defended.Simply understood. So when I name something,you know where we are. The Body of the Viola Let’s begin at the top. At the very top is the scroll,similar in shape to the violin’s,but carried by a larger body below. Beneath it sit the tuning pegs,resting in the pegbox,guiding the strings down into the neckand onto the fingerboard. The fingerboard is longer than the violin’s,wider beneath the hand,asking for more reach,more patience. This is an instrument that does not rush. Where the fingerboard meets the neck is the nut,a small but precise piece of woodcut to guide the strings cleanly and evenly. Below this point, the instrument opens into its body. The front is the top plate,arched to move air slowly and richly.The f-holes are wider set,releasing sound that does not shoutbut spreads. The bridge stands beneath the strings,balanced — not fixed —holding tension through placement alone. The strings pass down to the tailpiece,secured by the tailgut,and finally to the end button,which anchors the instrument to the player’s body. Inside, unseen but vital,the bass bar supports resonance,and the soundpost transfers vibration,linking front and back. You do not need to picture all of this clearly. You only need to feelthat this is a larger, slower-speaking system. The Bow The viola bow is heavier than the violin bow,with a broader ribbon of hair. There is a stick.There is bow hair.There is the frog —the weighted, adjustable meeting pointwhere the hand transfers arm weight into sound. The opposite end is the tip. These words matterbecause teachers will use them,and they refer not to judgement,but to location. The bow is not about pressure.It is about staying long enough for sound to bloom. Holding the Viola The viola rests on the bodymuch like the violin,but it asks for more space. The instrument sits slightly lower.The left arm opens more.The right arm travels further. If you try to treat it like a violin,it resists. If you give it time,it responds. This is not an instrument for urgency.You tuck the instrument between your shoulder and your chin.You can optionally use a shoulder rest. This is entirely a matter of choice. We will look further into this in a future episode. Taking Up Space: The Inner Orb Where the violin projects outward,the viola settles inward. Imagine an orb around your torso —not small,but contained. Your breath lives here.Your ribs.Your shoulders. The bow moves through this space.The sound grows from it. Nothing should feel pinched.Nothing should feel apologetic. The viola does not reward forcing yourself forward.It rewards depth. If you hurry,the sound thins. So you allow yourself to stay. Calmly.Steadily.With trust. What Comes Next Now — and only now —do we have what we need. Not repertoire.Not comparison. But ground. A named structure.A body allowed to open.Time for sound to form. Now we can make a noise. A middle voice.A necessary voice. And once that sound exists,it holds everything together.It belongs to you. iServalan™Music, listening, and the Continuum Approach: Exploring sound across genres, eras, and performance cultures — from Baroque to punk, hip-hop to minimalism — without hierarchy or haste.🎧 Podcast & essays: 🎻 Music Schoolhttps://iservalan.gumroad.com/l/concervatoire?https://iservalan.gumroad.com📚 Books & long-form work by Sarnia de la Maré FRSA:https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B0CWGX2DJ6🎨 Professional profile:https://www.a-n.co.uk/person/sarnia-de-la-mare-frsa-2/#iServalan #ContinuumApproach #MusicPodcast #RadicalListening #MusicAcrossGenres#PerformanceCulture #SarniaDeLaMaré
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    5 m
  • 🎶 What Lift Music Has to Do with Ambient House | iServalan | Continuum Approach

    🎶 What Lift Music Has to Do with Ambient House | iServalan | Continuum Approach
    Dec 18 2025
    This essay accompanies an audio episode from iServalan and forms part of a wider approach to learning music through listening, movement, and attention. 🎶 In Defence of Lift Music: Regulation, Honesty, and the Sound That Stayed Before we talk about taste,before we talk about credibility,before we talk about whether something is “serious” music — we should listen. Because lift music was never asking to be admired.It was asking to help. Lift music — also called elevator music, background music, or later, Muzak — did not begin as a genre in the artistic sense. It began as a regulatory tool. A response to a new kind of human problem: being suspended, briefly and repeatedly, in small enclosed spaces with strangers. How absolutely terrifying. Early twentieth-century buildings grew upwards faster than social customs adapted. Elevators introduced pauses where there had previously been movement. Silence in those moments created tension — not dramatic fear, but low-level unease. The solution was sound that softened the nervous system. Not exciting sound.Not expressive sound.But sound that reduced exposure. This is regulation. Long before the language of music therapy entered the mainstream, lift music was already doing therapeutic work. Its steady tempos, predictable harmonies, gentle dynamics, and lack of sudden change were not accidents or signs of incompetence. They were carefully chosen features designed to keep the body calm. Lift music does not ask for attention.It gives us safety. This is one reason it has been so persistently misunderstood. We are used to valuing music for what it expresses. How it gyrates on a stage. Lift music values what it contains. It mirrors a very human need: the need to exist without the pressure required to perform. In this sense, lift music is profoundly honest. It does not pretend to be profound. It does not disguise itself as rebellion or innovation. It accepts its role as environmental sound — as a soft buffer between individuals and the world. When Brian Eno later described ambient music as “as ignorable as it is interesting,” he articulated something lift music had already been practising quietly for decades. The difference was not musical, but cultural. Ambient music arrived framed as art. Lift music arrived framed as service. And framing matters. What we later celebrate in ambient house, downtempo electronica, Café del Mar compilations, and even lo-fi hip hop playlists — repetition, warmth, emotional neutrality, gentle looping — is structurally similar to what lift music was designed to do. The same qualities are now openly discussed in therapeutic contexts. Sound for grounding.Sound for emotional containment.Sound that reduces cognitive load.Sound for the afterparty When these sounds appear in clinical or wellness settings, they are called supportive. When they appear in corporate spaces, they are called manipulative. The sound itself has not changed. Only our assumptions have. OK, I will concede somewhat, there are probably some stylised production techniques are used for more popular and commercial music. And yes, lift music is often criticised for lacking emotion. But that criticism misunderstands its relationship to humanity. Lift music does not project emotion. It reflects the listener’s state back at them without interference. If you are anxious, it steadies you.If you are calm, it stays out of the way. That is not emptiness.That is restraint. In a world where music is increasingly expected to brand identity, assert mood, and demand attention, lift music stands almost alone in refusing to do so. It does not insist on meaning. It does not escalate. It does not climax. It mirrors a quieter truth about human life: that much of it happens in between moments. Waiting. Passing. Pausing. And perhaps this is why lift music endures. Not because it is powerful,but because it is kind. Not because it is expressive,but because it is regulatory. Lift music does not ask who you are.It allows you to be there. And in an age of constant stimulation, that honesty may be its greatest contribution of all.iServalan™Music, listening, and the Continuum Approach: Exploring sound across genres, eras, and performance cultures — from Baroque to punk, hip-hop to minimalism — without hierarchy or haste.🎧 Podcast & essays: 🎻 Music Schoolhttps://iservalan.gumroad.com/l/concervatoire?https://iservalan.gumroad.com📚 Books & long-form work by Sarnia de la Maré FRSA:https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B0CWGX2DJ6🎨 Professional profile:https://www.a-n.co.uk/person/sarnia-de-la-mare-frsa-2/#iServalan #ContinuumApproach #MusicPodcast #RadicalListening #MusicAcrossGenres#PerformanceCulture #SarniaDeLaMaré
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    5 m
  • 🎹 The Piano: Naming the Structure, Entering the Architecture | iServalan | Continuum Approach

    🎹 The Piano: Naming the Structure, Entering the Architecture | iServalan | Continuum Approach
    Dec 18 2025
    This essay accompanies an audio episode from iServalan and forms part of a wider approach to learning music through listening, movement, and attention.🎹 The Piano: Naming the Structure, Entering the Architecture Before we talk about repertoire,before we talk about grades,before we talk about whether the piano is a “beginner’s instrument” — we meet it properly. Because the piano is not something you hold.It is something you enter. And to enter it with confidence,we need shared language. Not memorised.Not examined.Simply known. So when I name something,you know where we are. The Body of the Piano Let’s begin at the point of contact. The keyboard. A row of keys — black and white —balanced levers rather than buttons. Each key is a length of wood, weighted and hinged,designed to travel down and return up with consistency. Beneath the keys is the keybed,the foundation that holds the keyboard steady,allowing repetition, reliability, trust. When a key is pressed, it sets a mechanism in motion —the action. This is the heart of the piano. The action is a system of joints, levers, and felt,translating finger movement into soundwith astonishing precision. The hammers sit at the far end of this system,felt-covered and carefully shaped,striking the strings and immediately rebounding. They do not stay on the string.They touch and release. The strings themselves are stretched across a heavy metal frame,grouped in twos and threes for most notes,thicker and fewer in the bass,thinner and more numerous as the pitch rises. These strings rest on bridges,which transfer vibration into the soundboard. The soundboard is the piano’s voice. A broad, resonant wooden surfacethat takes the small vibration of stringsand turns it into something that fills a room. Above all of this sits the lid,which can be closed, opened partway, or fully raised,not to make the piano louder,but to shape how the sound travels outward. Below, at the feet, are the pedals. The sustain pedal allows sound to continue after the keys are released.The soft pedal shifts the action to change colour and weight.The middle pedal, where present, selectively holds sound. You don’t need to remember all of this at once. You only need to recognise that this is not a simple instrument. It is a contained architecture of time, weight, and resonance. Sitting at the Piano The piano does not ask you to wrap yourself around it.It asks you to arrive. Your bench should allow your feet to rest fully on the floor.Your thighs should slope gently downward.Your spine is upright but unforced. You are not leaning into the keyboard.You are meeting it. Your arms hang from your shoulders.Your hands are carried, not held. This is not an instrument for gripping.It is an instrument for balance. Taking Up Space: The Horizontal Orb Unlike string instruments,the piano opens sideways. Imagine an orb around you —wide now,stretching from left to right. Your shoulders belong to this orb.Your elbows.Your forearms.The arc your hands travel across the keyboard. Nothing should feel cramped.Nothing should feel hurried. The piano does not reward collapse.It rewards presence across width. If you shrink inward,the sound narrows. So you allow yourself space. Quietly.Without performance.Without apology. You are allowed to sit here. What Comes Next Now — and only now —do we have what we need. Not scales.Not pieces. But orientation. A named structure.A balanced seat.An architecture entered with calm. Now we can make a sound. And when that sound arrives,it arrives supported. ©2025 Sarnia de la Mare iServalan™Music, listening, and the Continuum Approach: Exploring sound across genres, eras, and performance cultures — from Baroque to punk, hip-hop to minimalism — without hierarchy or haste.🎧 Podcast & essays: 🎻 Music Schoolhttps://iservalan.gumroad.com/l/concervatoire?https://iservalan.gumroad.com📚 Books & long-form work by Sarnia de la Maré FRSA:https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B0CWGX2DJ6🎨 Professional profile:https://www.a-n.co.uk/person/sarnia-de-la-mare-frsa-2/#iServalan #ContinuumApproach #MusicPodcast #RadicalListening #MusicAcrossGenres#PerformanceCulture #SarniaDeLaMaré
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    5 m
  • The Bow for Stringed Instruments: Where Sound Actually Begins. iServalan™ |Continuum Approach

    The Bow for Stringed Instruments: Where Sound Actually Begins. iServalan™ |Continuum Approach
    Dec 18 2025
    The Bow for Stringed Instruments: Where Sound Actually Begins

    When people think about string instruments, they often focus on the left hand.
    Finger placement. Accuracy. Notes. But it doesn't take long in our training to realise that it is the bow that holds the secrets of success. The bow can kill music or resurrect it. The bow is where sound actually begins. Without the bow, a string instrument is silent. The left hand chooses pitch, but it does not create sound.
    The bow sets the string in motion. It determines whether a note speaks, whispers, resists, or collapses. This is why the bow should not be treated as an accessory. It is the breath of the instrument. Physically, the bow is a flexible system designed to balance grip and release. The hair catches the string, pulls it slightly out of place, and then allows it to snap back. This repeated cycle — known as stick-slip motion — is what produces sustained sound. Everything we describe musically as tone, colour, and expression begins here. Across violin, viola, cello, and double bass, the principles remain the same even when proportions change. The bow has weight, but it does not press. It has direction, but it does not force. It moves through time, not against it. Three elements govern all bow sound:
    Contact point — where the bow meets the string.
    Closer to the bridge produces a focused, resistant sound. Closer to the fingerboard produces a softer, more diffuse one.
    Speed — how fast the bow travels.
    Slower speed allows the string to speak fully. Faster speed increases energy and projection. Weight — the natural mass of the arm transferred through the bow.
    This is not pressure from the fingers. It is gravity, allowed rather than applied. These three elements are always in relationship. Changing one requires adjustment of the others. When beginners struggle, it is rarely because they lack talent. It is because one element has been isolated from the system. The bow also teaches listening in a way the left hand cannot. Intonation errors can sometimes hide briefly. Poor bow contact cannot. The sound tells the truth immediately. This makes the bow an honest teacher, but not a cruel one. Importantly, the bow responds differently depending on the instrument. A violin bow reacts quickly and rewards lightness. A viola bow requires more time in the string before sound blooms. A cello bow carries greater mass and demands patience. These are not value judgements. They are physical realities. Understanding this removes the idea that one instrument is easier or harder than another. Each simply asks for a different relationship with time and weight. For many players, the bow is also where tension first appears. Gripping, locking the wrist, forcing volume. These habits usually come from anxiety rather than intention. The bow does not need control in the way we often imagine. It needs permission to balance. A useful way to think about bowing is this:
    the bow is not pushed across the string.
    It is drawn. When the arm hangs freely, when the hand supports rather than dominates, the bow begins to work with the string instead of against it. Sound stabilises. The body calms. Learning becomes less urgent and more precise. This is why foundational bow work often feels slow. It is not because progress has stopped, but because awareness has widened. You are learning to hear cause and effect. Ultimately, the bow teaches one of the most important lessons in music:
    sound is not made by effort alone. It is made by contact, movement, and time — working together.

    iServalan™
    Music, listening, and the Continuum Approach: Exploring sound across genres, eras, and performance cultures — from Baroque to punk, hip-hop to minimalism — without hierarchy or haste.

    🎧 Podcast & essays: 🎻 Music School
    https://iservalan.gumroad.com/l/concervatoire?
    https://iservalan.gumroad.com📚 Books & long-form work by Sarnia de la Maré FRSA:
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B0CWGX2DJ6🎨 Professional profile:
    https://www.a-n.co.uk/person/sarnia-de-la-mare-frsa-2/

    #iServalan #ContinuumApproach #MusicPodcast #RadicalListening #MusicAcrossGenres
    #PerformanceCulture #SarniaDeLaMaré
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    5 m
  • Why does my music teacher insist on slow practice? | iServalan | Digital Conservatoire

    Why does my music teacher insist on slow practice? | iServalan | Digital Conservatoire
    Dec 18 2025
    Why Slow Practice Is Crucial to Excellence ......and is often misunderstood. It is sometimes framed as remedial, cautious, or something you endure until you are “good enough” to go faster. And it is, in many ways, all of those things. But the advantages of purposeful slowing down cannot be underestimated. When you slow a passage down, you are not merely reducing speed. You are changing how the brain experiences the music. Gaps appear where none existed before. Tiny weaknesses are now revealed and can be adjusted. Transitions become visible. Movements that once blurred together can now be felt individually. "What am I doing wrong?".... becomes "now I can solve this little thing I do which I am not happy with." This is why slow practice is used by elite performers across disciplines — not because they lack skill, but because they understand how learning consolidates. Fast practice relies heavily on momentum. Slow practice relies on awareness.Slowing teaches you how to breath the music. There is a crucial difference between muscle memory and narrative memory. Muscle memory allows the body to repeat actions. Narrative memory allows the brain to understand why one action leads to another. Slow practice builds the latter. Glenn Gould was famously meticulous about tempo in the practice room, often working at speeds far removed from performance. He understood that speed, when it arrives too early, conceals instability rather than resolving it. This approach aligns closely with the Suzuki principle, though it is often misunderstood. The goal is not perfection through discipline, but fluency through familiarity. When the body knows what comes next without anxiety, speed emerges naturally, inevitabley. Listening and predicting add an advantage to players that put them ahead of the novice. Speed is not something you add like a condiment.
    It is something that appears when nothing is in the way. Slow practice is not about being fearful and should never be shamed.
    It is about giving the music time to organise itself in the mind and the body.Speed runs the risk of hiding mistakes which then become learned and embedded, the mistake is now an irreversible habit. This is fatal for exams and performances.This is especially important for children and neurodiverse students who should be led by the slow example well before flashy, nimble virtuosity.

    iServalan™
    Music, listening, and the Continuum Approach: Exploring sound across genres, eras, and performance cultures — from Baroque to punk, hip-hop to minimalism — without hierarchy or haste.

    🎧 Podcast & essays: 🎻 Music School
    https://iservalan.gumroad.com/l/concervatoire?
    https://iservalan.gumroad.com📚 Books & long-form work by Sarnia de la Maré FRSA:
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B0CWGX2DJ6🎨 Professional profile:
    https://www.a-n.co.uk/person/sarnia-de-la-mare-frsa-2/

    #iServalan #ContinuumApproach #MusicPodcast #RadicalListening #MusicAcrossGenres
    #PerformanceCulture #SarniaDeLaMaré
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    3 m
  • Recantation by Mureel Stuart Spoken Word Public Domain Poetry | iServalan | Continuum Approach

    Recantation by Mureel Stuart Spoken Word Public Domain Poetry | iServalan | Continuum Approach
    Dec 17 2025
    From the open collection library at the Digital Concervatoire

    iServalan™
    Music, listening, and the Continuum Approach: Exploring sound across genres, eras, and performance cultures — from Baroque to punk, hip-hop to minimalism — without hierarchy or haste.

    🎧 Podcast & essays:
    https://iservalan.gumroad.com📚 Books & long-form work by Sarnia de la Maré FRSA:
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B0CWGX2DJ6🎨 Professional profile:
    https://www.a-n.co.uk/person/sarnia-de-la-mare-frsa-2/

    #iServalan #ContinuumApproach #MusicPodcast #RadicalListening #MusicAcrossGenres
    #PerformanceCulture #SarniaDeLaMaré
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    1 m
  • 🎙️ The Double Bass: Naming the Structure, Standing in the Sound | iServalan™ | Continuum Approach

    🎙️ The Double Bass: Naming the Structure, Standing in the Sound | iServalan™ | Continuum Approach
    Dec 17 2025
    This essay accompanies an audio episode from iServalan and forms part of a wider approach to learning music through listening, movement, and attention.🎙️ The Double Bass: Naming the Structure, Standing in the Sound Before we talk about difficulty,before we talk about strength,before we talk about whether this instrument is “too big” — we meet it properly. Because the double bass is not something you wrestle into submission.It is something you learn to stand beside. And to do that, we need shared language. Not memorised.Not tested.Simply understood. So when I name something,you know where we are. The Body of the Double Bass Let’s begin at the top. At the very top is the scroll,often larger and more pronounced than on smaller string instruments.Below it sit the tuning machines — metal gears rather than wooden pegs —designed for the greater tension of thicker strings. These sit in the pegbox,which leads into the neckand then into the fingerboard. The fingerboard is long.Unfretted.There are no visual shortcuts. This is an instrument that asks for listening,orientation,and trust in the body. Where the fingerboard meets the body is the nut. This block of wood is at the top of the fingerboard and is cut to hold the strings in place, with slight indents that are smooth and no deeper than half the size of the string. Below the nut the bass opens out into its wide, resonant form. The front is the top plate,carved to move a great volume of air.The f-holes are larger here,because the sound they release is larger. The bridge stands beneath the strings,taller than on a cello,balanced — not glued —holding immense tension through equilibrium alone. The strings pass down to the tailpiece,anchored by the tailgut,and finally to the endpin,which connects the bass to the floorand to gravity itself. Inside, unseen but essential,are the bass bar and the soundpost,shaping, supporting, and focusing the sound. You don’t need to hold all of this in your head.You only need to recognise the terrain. That’s enough. The Bow The double bass bow may look different —French or German grip —but the principles are the same. There is a stick.There is bow hair, usually made of horse hair and occasionally synthetic hair for vegan bows.There is a point where the hand meets the bow called the frog, a weighted adjustable oblong shape,where the arm transfers weight. The opposite end is called the tip. The frog and the tip are often used in instructions so it is good to remember those. The bow is not about pressure.It is about gravity,released. Standing or Sitting With the Bass Unlike the cello,the double bass asks you to stand —or to sit high enough that standing logic still applies. The bass leans into you.You do not lean into it. The endpin should be adjusted so the instrument feels present, not looming.If you feel you are reaching upward constantly, something is wrong. Your feet are grounded.Your knees are free.Your spine is upright but not rigid. This is not an instrument for collapse. Taking Up Space: The Vertical Orb Just as with the cello,string playing requires space. But here, the space is vertical. Imagine an orb around you —taller now,stretching from the floor beneath your feetto the air above your head. Your feet belong to this orb.Your pelvis.Your spine.Your shoulders.Your elbows.Your hands.The arc of the bow. Nothing should feel pinned.Nothing should feel apologetic. The double bass does not reward shrinking.It rewards presence. If you make yourself small,the sound struggles. So you claim your space. Calmly.Quietly.Without force. You are allowed to stand here. What Comes Next Now — and only now —do we have what we need. Not repertoire.Not technique drills. But the tools. A named structure.A grounded stance.Space to move.Room to breathe. Now we can make a noise. Our noise.Our sound. And once that sound exists,the world will listen. Our other streaming sitesiServalan™Music, listening, and the Continuum Approach: Exploring sound across genres, eras, and performance cultures — from Baroque to punk, hip-hop to minimalism — without hierarchy or haste.🎧 Podcast & essays:https://iservalan.gumroad.com📚 Books & long-form work by Sarnia de la Maré FRSA:https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B0CWGX2DJ6🎨 Professional profile:https://www.a-n.co.uk/person/sarnia-de-la-mare-frsa-2/#iServalan #ContinuumApproach #MusicPodcast #RadicalListening #MusicAcrossGenres#PerformanceCulture #SarniaDeLaMaré
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    5 m